In this the season of upsets and unpredictability, two consecutive losses to Oregon State and UCLA have left former national title contender California exposed as a pretender.
Cal’s opponent this Saturday, No. 4 Arizona State, hopes it’s not next.
The visiting No. 18 Golden Bears (5-2 overall, 2-2 Pacific-10 Conference) have won the last four meetings between the teams, including the last two in Tempe. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Northwest.
Arizona State (7-0, 4-0) has been the surprise co-conference leader, and can control its own destiny for a potential BCS bid, something few could have expected in Dennis Erickson’s first season as coach for the Sun Devils. The 7-0 start is the program’s best since 1996, when quarterback Jake Plummer guided ASU to the Rose Bowl.
Two weeks ago, this matchup might have warranted ESPN GameDay-type of attention. But two straight Cal losses have fans and critics on the watch for a complete breakdown for Cal.
“The Cal Bears, so close to sitting on top of the world, are now what almost nobody thought this team had a chance to be: ordinary,” wrote San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler after the team’s loss to UCLA.
The players understand each game from now on is to be considered a must-win if they hope to play in any bowl game of consequence.
“We just have to keep fighting and never quit,” Cal middle linebacker Worrell Williams told to the San Francisco Chronicle on Saturday. “We don’t have anything else to play for but pride. Obviously, the national championship is out of the picture. The Rose Bowl is out of the picture. But we still have to suit up and play.”
While Cal has publicly dismantled, Arizona State has snuck into the national title picture quietly, even receiving a first-place vote in the latest Associated Press poll. Dennis Erickson shouldn’t take a beaten-down Cal team lightly, however – his program has gone 2-19 versus ranked opponents since 2001. Even the oddsmakers in Las Vegas aren’t sure which way to go, giving the game a three point spread that is dead on with the teams’ season averages (Arizona State averages 37.7 points per game; Cal puts up 35.1).
“We’re playing one of the best teams in the country,” Erickson told the Arizona Republic Monday. “Tape doesn’t lie on California. They’re an extremely good football team.”
What sets apart this ASU team from those of the Dirk Koetter-era is that the defense has matched the offense’s productivity. They rank 14th in the nation in total defense, better than any other Pac-10 team. They allow fewer than 91 yards per game on the ground. They’ve allowed only 15 points per game, as well, tops in the conference.
Counter that with one of the conference’s top-ranked quarterbacks (Rudy Carpenter) leading the second best offense in the conference, and you have an unblemished season, so far.
The Cal offense, lead by the triumvirate of quarterback Nate Longshore, wide receiver DeSean Jackson and tailback Justin Forsett, looks to get back to the form it showed in the team’s first five games. The very presence of Cal wide receiver and Heisman Trophy candidate DeSean Jackson on the field gives the Bears an instant deep threat. Against UCLA, Jackson had nine receptions for 136 yards for two touchdowns. Cal tailback Justin Forsett averages more than 115 yards per game, and racked up 150 yards two weeks ago on an Oregon State rush defense that is ranked third in the nation.
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